Gazing at the items strewn across the floor, Li Yan's eyes swept over them one by one. A look of surprise appeared on his usually expressionless face, and his heart warmed. The first thing he saw was not Spirit Treasures or Magical Treasures, but three small mountains of Spirit Stones. The three piles of Spirit Stones landing in the room made the somewhat spacious guest room suddenly feel crowded. Even with Li Yan's current, somewhat substantial assets, he was still stunned by the sight.
The three piles of dazzlingly bright Spirit Stones made Li Yan's eyes a little uncomfortable. He couldn't help but close them for a moment before opening them again. Of the three piles of Spirit Stones, there were two large and one small. One of them, after a scan with Li Yan's Divine Sense, turned out to be a staggering thirty thousand. Li Yan squinted. If he remembered correctly, this pile of Spirit Stones should belong to Bloodhand Flying Sickle. He never thought this person would be so wealthy. He remembered that this person should be a cultivator from a second-rate sect called the Bloodhand Sect.
'It seems this person's status in the Bloodhand Sect is not low. He should be at the elder level,' Li Yan thought to himself. His guess was actually an underestimation. After all, he only had a general understanding of first and second-rate sects. Bloodhand Flying Sickle was the vice sect master of the Bloodhand Sect, a position of high authority. A second-rate sect's annual income would be at least six to seven hundred thousand Spirit Stones; otherwise, it would not be enough to support the development of a sect. And as the vice sect master of the Bloodhand Sect and a late-stage Foundation Establishment expert, after several decades, these thirty thousand Spirit Stones were actually not that much. In fact, he had a lot more in stock, but he just hadn't brought it with him. He was out to visit an old friend this time, and a few tens of thousands of Spirit Stones were naturally enough.
Li Yan looked at this pile of Spirit Stones, then shifted his gaze to the other two piles, one large and one small. Neither of them had as many Spirit Stones as Bloodhand Flying Sickle, but the two piles added together came to more than fifty thousand. They were left behind by the He brothers.
'The He brothers are assassins from the "Thorn-Shadow" organization. The rewards for killing people come quickly. For them, more than fifty thousand Spirit Stones probably isn't even the full price for assassinating a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the same rank. It seems that killing people and plundering their goods is indeed the fastest way to accumulate wealth. No wonder the cultivation world advocates the law of the jungle. Plundering cultivation resources like this is truly the fastest way.' Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh. Then, with a wave of his large sleeve, the three piles of Spirit Stones were instantly collected into his "Earthen Mark." Then, his gaze fell on the ground in front of him again.
With the disappearance of the three piles of Spirit Stones, the ground instantly cleared up. There were about fifty or so items left. Li Yan still looked at Bloodhand Flying Sickle's remaining items first. There were five exquisite small jade vials, one or two spirit artifacts, seven spirit treasures, and one magical treasure. The rest were some clothes and miscellaneous personal belongings.
With a casual wave of his hand, the five exquisite jade vials flew into his hand. He carefully opened one, and a pungent, bloody smell immediately rushed out. Li Yan had long since held his breath. The bloody smell filled the room, but he hadn't inhaled a single bit. Although he was very confident in his Fragmented Poison Body, he was not willing to take risks.
Li Yan frowned. His Divine Sense sensed that although this bloody smell was strong, there was no sense of danger. Instead, it could make one's blood boil.
He directly tilted the vial, and a crimson medicinal pill the size of a thumbnail rolled out, held in the air by his spiritual energy.
Li Yan focused his gaze. The medicinal pill was emitting a demonic red light. It was semi-transparent, like a piece of blood-colored amber.
"Blood-Amber?" Li Yan couldn't help but be shocked. Over the years, in order to study the Fragmented Poison Body, he had read quite a few of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's poison refining classics.
Li Yan stretched out a finger and carefully scraped the medicinal pill, but nothing came off. Instead, a burning sensation came from his fingernail. His heart moved, and this time he directly pinched the pill with two fingers. The moment he pinched the pill, a scorching heat entered his body directly through his fingertips. Li Yan did not stop this scorching heat from entering his body, but let it enter along the meridians of his arm. Instantly, Li Yan felt the spiritual energy in his entire arm as if it had been ignited, becoming restless and moving more actively in his meridians.
"It really is a 'Blood-Amber Pill'! I never thought Bloodhand Flying Sickle would have such a medicinal pill on him!" After confirming the pill, Li Yan was overjoyed and directly sent his Divine Sense into the vial. A moment later, a smile appeared on his face.
"There's another one inside. If these two 'Blood-Amber Pills' are used well, they can be life-saving items at critical moments." Li Yan clearly remembered that the "Blood-Amber Pill" was a third-rank, high-grade medicinal pill. Generally, even a Golden Core cultivator might not have one. This pill was originally something that only evil cultivators possessed. Each one required the innate fetal bodies of nine living infants as the main ingredient, with their mother's prenatal qi as a guide. When the pregnant woman's abdomen was cut open, thirteen kinds of precious herbs were filled in, and it was refined with the blood refining grand art. The nine pairs of mothers and children who were refined would be in constant agony for thirteen days. After the pill was formed, evil cultivators could rely on this pill to stimulate their blood qi and essence, taking an unorthodox path and cultivating at an extremely fast speed.
However, this method was too vicious. Anyone who refined this medicinal pill, once discovered by orthodox cultivators, even if they had no intention of eliminating demons and defending the Dao, would not be allowed to exist as such a person who went against the way of heaven. Therefore, this refining method had gradually disappeared hundreds of thousands of years ago.
But seventy thousand years ago, an alchemy grandmaster once again obtained this pill formula. He was also shocked when he saw the formula at that time and was eager to destroy it to prevent it from falling into the hands of evil cultivators and harming the world again. But just as he was about to burn it, he couldn't bear to part with it. No matter what kind of pill formula, it had been successfully developed after countless trials and tribulations. No matter what the purpose of the person who created the formula was, it was extremely precious to an alchemist.
In the end, this alchemy grandmaster gritted his teeth and secretly kept the pill formula. He had an idea, which was to see if he could improve the "Blood-Amber Pill" formula into other medicinal pills. In the end, regardless of success or failure, he would destroy the official "Blood-Amber Pill" formula when the new pill formula appeared or before his own death. If he died unexpectedly and didn't have time to destroy the formula, then it could only be said to be the will of heaven.
Just like that, this alchemy grandmaster, with a bit of a fluke mentality, after decades of research, really managed to find another way. By indirectly using the fetal body of a rare demonic beast and in conjunction with his original blood refining technique, he could also refine an improved "Blood-Amber Pill." It was just that this pill no longer had any effect on cultivation or advancement, but it had a certain effect on temporarily stimulating a person's magical power. This pill, upon entering the body, would greatly burn spiritual energy and essence blood, causing the user's strength to increase by three to four times for half an hour. This was undoubtedly of great use for a person to escape in a critical situation. It was just that the side effects of this pill were not small. Although it would not reduce the user's lifespan, the user's meridians would become very fragile after half an hour. Any slight movement of spiritual energy would throw the body into a mess. They could only slowly recover by nourishing themselves with medicinal pills. As for the recovery time, it depended on the original strength of the user's meridians. Generally, it would take at least a month, and at most a year. So during this period, this person was basically a cripple.
But if someone wanted to use this method to instantly increase their spiritual energy to break through at a critical moment of advancement, that would undoubtedly be seeking death. Even if he could successfully advance with the help of this pill, when the effect of the pill wore off, the huge amount of spiritual energy generated in his body after advancement would only be a pill that accelerated death. It would instantly burst his already fragile meridians after the pill's effect, directly turning him into a cloud of blood mist.
Due to the above reasons, and the fact that the improved "Blood-Amber Pill" formula also required at least one second-tier demonic beast fetus as the main ingredient, there were still very few people who refined it. Just think about it, a young demonic beast still in its mother's womb was already of the second rank. After it reached adulthood, it would definitely be a third-rank or above demonic beast. The terrifying combat power of its parents would make one's scalp tingle. Very few people were willing to do such a thing as pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth.
Li Yan had just used his fingernail to lightly scrape it to determine whether this pill was the evil cultivator's original "Blood-Amber Pill" or the improved formula. If it was the evil cultivator's original "Blood-Amber Pill," a layer of blood-colored powder would have been scraped off, and the burning sensation would have contained a trace of yin energy. If that were the case, Li Yan would have immediately destroyed the pill. But after a try, although the burning sensation was strong, there was not a trace of yin or coldness, and the surface of the pill had already crystallized. How could Li Yan not be excited? Although the side effects of this pill were great, compared to saving one's life in a critical moment, all sacrifices were worth it.
Li Yan repeatedly observed the two pills for a while before putting the porcelain vial into his "Earthen Mark." At the same time, a sense of anticipation rose in Li Yan's heart, and his gaze turned to the remaining items with a burning intensity.
But the remaining items from Bloodhand Flying Sickle's pile left Li Yan a little disappointed. Among the remaining porcelain vials, two contained auxiliary pills commonly used by Foundation Establishment cultivators for cultivation, and the other two were healing pills. Their effects could only be considered average. Li Yan then also collected the four vials of cultivation pills.
Bloodhand Flying Sickle's magical treasure was that folding fan, which was an elementary magical treasure. The other items were a pile of spirit artifacts, spirit treasures, and a dozen or so ordinary talismans. He didn't pay attention to them for the time being. It was just that among the miscellaneous items, a crimson waist token caught his attention. On one side of the waist token were carved the three large characters "Bloodhand Sect," and on the other side was a bright red, bloody hand. The carving was so lifelike that even the palm lines were clearly visible, revealing a grim killing intent. On the other side was a line of small characters: "Vice Sect Master."
"This Bloodhand Flying Sickle actually has such a high status in the sect." Li Yan thought that the Bloodhand Sect should also be a sect under the jurisdiction of the Malevolent Spirit Sect. The vice sect master of the sect had been killed right in front of him. And the one who had killed him could be considered to be Huchen Wuding, whose family was also under the jurisdiction of the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Li Yan couldn't help but shake his head. He could only sigh at such matters. The martial world was everywhere.
Li Yan reached out his hand and sucked, and the folding fan flew directly into his hand. Li Yan had seen the power of this folding fan before. It could transform into a river of blood. The river of blood had the effect of trapping enemies and defending. The value of a defensive magical treasure was several times higher than that of an offensive one. And at the same time, many souls of the Flying Sickle Blood Mantis were refined within it.
Li Yan took the folding fan into his hand, and his Divine Sense directly entered it. Instantly, a thick, suffocating smell of blood came from all directions. Inside the folding fan was a small world. The sky inside was dark red, and below it was a surging river of blood, flowing and churning with bloody waves. But what was strange was that such a turbulent river did not make a single sound. The moment Li Yan's Divine Sense entered the folding fan, a series of ear-piercing hisses came from the river of blood. Because his Divine Sense had appeared in this space, the intrusion of a stranger had caused seven or eight figures to emerge from the river, hissing and roaring at Li Yan's Divine Sense. They were eight Flying Sickle Blood Mantises. Five of them had intact bodies, and three had tattered bodies. In Li Yan's Divine Sense, they were slowly recovering in the river of blood.